Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Shiok, the Malay word for fantastic, is an apt word to describe the past 12 months for Malaysia's 40 Richest. It has been a remarkably good year for nearly everyone on our second annual list, thanks to the nation's thriving economy, which has been helped by recent government moves to reduce taxes.

The stock market is up more than 20% to date, making it the third-best-performing market in Asia behind China and Vietnam. At least 75% of the public companies held by these tycoons are worth more than last year. The nation's 40 richest business people are worth a collective $43 billion, up from $26 billion last year.

Robert Kuok remains Malaysia's richest, worth $7.6 billion. Just $200 million behind him is No. 2 Ananda Krishnan, who made headlines in May when he announced plans to take his telecom company, Maxis, private in a $5 billion deal. Malaysia's ten richest still control the bulk of the list's wealth, worth $35 billion, up 63% from the previous year. But the individuals lower in the ranks are doing well, too. Last year a dozen people were worth less than $100 million; the minimum net worth was $65 million. This year no one is worth less than $127 million.

Eight of the rich listers are newcomers, most put there by recent offerings or dramatic gains in public holdings. Mokhzani Mahathir, son of the former prime minister, joins the ranks after taking his energy company Kencana public in December. Seri Eleena Raja Azlan Shah becomes the list's second woman, thanks to her shareholding in thriving construction firm Gamuda, up 90% in the past year. The richest newcomer is Singapore resident Ong Beng Seng, the tireless dealmaker who just recently persuaded Formula One's Bernie Ecclestone to hold a Grand Prix-style race on the streets of Singapore, most probably at night, a world's first.

Even most dropoffs from last year's rankings have little reason to pout. Former head of Multi-Purpose Holdings, Lim Thian Kiat, saw his net worth rise $31 million to $126 million. Not bad, but not enough to make the cut.

For people with publicly traded fortunes, net worths were calculated using share prices and exchange rates from May 11. For privately held fortunes we estimated what companies and assets were worth if public.